Is Wushu a viable martial art?

[phantim7]

I have practiced Judo four five years and have found it to be a very effective martial art.
I would like to expand my horizons though and start learning a striking art. I am interested in travelling to asia and learning a martial art in an intense atmosphere with long training hours. It just struck me that Wushu and Kung Fu in general seems to be more for show then for fighting. I never see any fight competitions just routines and whatnot. Anyways some input would be much appreciated.


Thanks

[LeiYunFat]

Martial arts incorporates many interpretations and desires, such as, fighting prowess, physical fitness/health, mental fitness, spiritual wellness, etc. Wushu will help you with all of these to an extent; some more than others. In this case I think you are talking about fighting aptitdue. There are numerous articles on this site and on the forums about wushu in this context alone. Yes there are kung fu fighting tournaments as well as forms competitions.

But modern wushu is mainly for shows. If you want to solely learn street combat, try krav maga or something like it which is more combat oriented. If you want to do some tournament fights, you can basically find tournaments of every kind of martial art, from gong fu to capoiera.

[Maestro]

"I would like to expand my horizons though and start learning a striking art. I am interested in travelling to asia and learning a martial art in an intense atmosphere with long training hours. It just struck me that Wushu and Kung Fu in general seems to be more for show then for fighting."

listen, you dont have to travel all over asia, you dont have to go to a mountain top, and kung fu is not for show, in the past kung fu wasnt even demonstrated, because high level practitioners can look at your gung fu, and steal it and back then the gung fu was your life

listen, shaolin or chinese martial arts, arent flashy, if you see a form and it looks "pretty" you know your a novice. once you learn the art, you dont even understand the depth untill you get a good year in atleast, at most commercial schools anyway. but even then most students dont get enough information to correctly understand how to utilize chi which is the backbone of all shaolin technique.

the bottom line is, if you really want to know how to fight, train gung fu. you havent trained in a chinese art before, so i would suggest looking for the best teacher, i could reccomend a million, in china i dont know many, i know a few, if i were you and i was planning on china, or whatever id go with shi de cheng

[LeiYunFat]

I think if you just want to learn how to strike, a specialized thing like wing chun would be better than something as vast as just chinese gong fu. That or Muay Thai. Maybe even just Western Boxing or simply kickboxing. I love chinese gong fu with a passion that lights my loins but I really suck at grappling and ground fighting. I've never had this kind of training since I don't have a set teacher. If I wanted to become really proficient with this in a fairly fast amount of time, I would do a specialized style like bjj, judo, akido, etc.

Especially with traditional teachers, you may learn applications very late in the game. If you truly love martial arts then by all means, take the long road. But if you want to learn how to strike and take it to tournaments asap, try something more specific.

Contemporary wushu, however, won't offer what you are looking for until you get REALLY late into the game, if even that. Gong fu can teach you that. Wushu won't. There is a difference. But if you're looking on a lot of more acrobatic stuff with a ton of different types of kicks, go learn some modern wushu.

[Maestro]

id rather learn to box then wing chun lolo

actually i did box, and really i cant even describe how much better ive gotten training with my sifu, its ridiculous. shaolin is so vast, if you train shaolin to be a good fighter, you dont have to train that long(if you train hard) to become a formidable fighter.

strikeing is strikeing, anyone can train a killer death strike, anyone can learn how to throw a hard punch and kick, the hard part is landing those killer hits, i really dont care who you are if you think you can stand up with a experienced fighter and win purely with your speed or some fancy strikes, your sorely mistaken. the hardest part about all martial arts, is learning how to get in position to land your attack, JUST like armor piercing bullet, its nothing without the GUN

[zachsan]

"a fire that lights my loins"... if you say so, pal.

anyway, honestly, if all you want to learn is striking, don't take gongfu. chinese MAs are not like japanese systems. they tend to try to include a little bit of everything, whereas the popular japanese styles usually focus on a few specific skills. so if you've already got throwing and joint locks down fairly well through judo, then you don't want to have to re-learn all that again, with possible contradictions, just so that you learn to throw punches too.

i would recommend going to a boxing gym, if you really want to focus on striking... but that environment will probably be a little more aggressive than a judo school. if you want to stick with the oriental thing, it would make a whole lot of sense to just take a karate class, especially since you already have a japanese MA background.

[plumflower_pm]

If you want to round out your skills, seek out not only punching - develop a good all around stand up game. Entering, striking, kicking, sweeping, controlling, etc. that you can use in conjunction with your judo. I've trained BJJ and kung fu concurrently and find that the throws and groundwork blend nicely between the two styles and any contradictions are in the approach more than in the actual function of the technique.

keep an open mind and be prepared to have some of the stuff you learned as a Judoka change a bit as you incorporate kung fu, and vice versa.

Visit the schools in your area and watch how and what they train. Look for a good school that spars regularly. You'd ideally like to get some sparring in every time you train, but most schools may not offer that, especially right of the bat.

Go in with an empty cup and don't let your previous training limit what you can do within CMA. good luck!

[zachsan]

heh. but his cup isn't empty... he's taken judo for 5 years.

[plumflower_pm]

who says you can only have one cup?

[zachsan]

well, like i always say, the more cups the better, unless you're planning on driving home.

[LeiYunFat]

I love cups with a passion that lights my loins.

[shaolinstylee]

Cups and war arts.. what an iteresting concept.

[phantim7]

thanks for the response

Ive been in vancouver for a a copule of days so i havent been able to post so thanks for the response guys. I remain interested in Chinese MA and learning something vastly different from Judo. Judo is almost entirely a tournament sport. All the moves are easily practiced and events happen all the time. It is always very relaxed and sometimes the practices feel like soccer practice.
With the Kung Fu schools in China it seems I will be participating in a way of being and a long tradition. My mind and my body will be trained and even if the MA is not as practical as Judo I think that it will benefit me greatly.

Thanks

[flow]

well...

i think all kind of interesting point of views have been expressed by people who know their stuff more than well.
i have great respect for judo which is extremely efficient.my point of view:just have a look in a boxing club(thai or even western/en if ibut stay away from the lousy kickboxing),and you can be sure to develop interesting skills.
Surely it helps to endure these long Chinese trainings,i personnally use it s a physical preparation,even if i'm more than convinced of the infinite power of Shaolin gong fu(and even San Shou)Just that in our countries its pretty hard to find a real training(there i speak for me-it's not totaly true as i recently found shaolin temple UK and i'll soon go there).
As a experience,kind of boxing is a good school,trust me.At least it works for me.
Good luck for future,to all of you guys!